Phantom in the Twilight Review

After the fiasco with the MAL mods, I decided not to chance it, and just write in my diary instead. It felt safer, and I do like that this space now exists for me to truly be myself, On MAL, I always felt like I was holding myself back. Though I guess that could be said for how I behave in the U.S. in general. 

Anyway, here's the review for Phantom in the Twilight!

Maaaan. I really wanted to like this show.

It started out so strong. From Episodes 1 - 4. I was like, "this better have a season 2, it's so good." Vampires, werewolves, ikemen, in a somewhat old London setting, and with a heroine character who resembles me in like.... 80% of ways HAHAHA. What's not to like? My dream fantasy. 

From Episode 5 onwards, the flaws grew bigger as the plot / logic grew smaller:

1. Robots. AIs. That are somehow powered by magic.

The first clue we had with the whole robot fiasco was when 'Van Helsing' appeared. We're supposed to believe that supernatural hunters, at the pinnacle of their craft and prestige. Masters who have curated centuries of weapons, books, research. Now fight with drones and helicopters dropping shipments of equipment/weaponary every 5 minutes...

The whole robot and tech aspect really took me out of the moment and made it hard to focus on the storyline. On one hand, I feel like the series 'aged well'. Indeed, that's the world we're living in today, where tech and 'internet of things' rules everything. AI has become an every day thing. It's almost sad how accurate some of the situations are, despite the series being released in 2018. 

On the other hand, I work in the tech industry and don't really want to think about work outside of work hours. Getting in-depth details on 'magic mirror' as a predictive app... had genuine business potential. To the point that I could see it being a good hackathon project or other business venture. But look... now we're talking mobile apps, versions, sprints and demos... and nothing about the supernatural fairy tale in front of us. 

They spent probably 10 - 15 mins per episode going on about the technology and weird 'hacker' stereotype, but less than 5 minutes talking about Ton's power evolution / journey / process. You see my point? I was definitely expecting more of the Grimm TV show, anime style. 

2. Vampire

Ever wanted to see a vampire who was... the complete opposite of their stereotypes? Like... a non-blood drinker? Peace loving? Completely isolated and mingling with other supernatural types? Hopelessly in love with human(s)? Physically weak and weak willed? Ok in the daytime?

Lemme introduce you to.... Vlad Garfunkel. 

Yeah, seriously, like Simon & Garfunkel. I couldn't stop laughing when I first read the last name, like, you can't be serious, right? I can't take you seriously with that last name. And indeed, you really shouldn't. You'll just be disappointed. 

Literally nothing about this guy is hot or sexy, minus for his face. 

It's actually very disappointing and disheartening. And yet he gets paired with the heroine because...? Stereotypes? Because he's the most conservative looking guy with huge ass collars? 

3. This show can't make up it's mind if it wants to be a harem or not

4. Omg the werewolf!! 

Luke is hella cool, I would totally fall for him if his hair was not silver. Nothing about his or his brother's appearance makes sense. His personality is 10/10. But the whole ears on the head and furry paws? Both of them looked absolutely ridiculous. 

I like that Luke got shirtless in the last episode but still... see (3), it can't make up it's mind, so you're just not sure what the fuck is going on, if there's a storyline at all

5. there isn't (a storyline)

... the entire series is Ton just chasing after her best friend. Nothing makes sense. We see Shinyao (might as well have been named Shinyuu 親友) for half a second in the first episode and then BAM GONE FOREVER. SOMEHOW SHINYAO MANAGES TO STAY CLEAN AND LOOKING PRETTY DESPITE BEING LIKE

Kidnapped

Abandoned

In warehouses for a straight 3 weeks 

we never see a bathroom, so idk how this girl does it

6. Ohhhh man. Suwabe Juinichi was so wasted on 'Haysin'. The character seemed powerful at the start, and I was hoping for the usual grey area character, like insiduous organizations etc. ... 

nope

they HAD to play him as the classic villain 'eating human organs' 'family members/incest' to boot, to make him as unlikable as possible to everyone.. the whole thing felt so staged, out of nowhere, didn't make sense, and just cringey overall

7. Let's talk about the other big problem: Shinyao herself

- nothing about her is explained

- nothing about her powers

- she's somehow ok being kindapped / stockholm syndrome

- completely falls in love with her captor (see: stockholm syndrome) but yet also .. there's just no point or real plot in any of this, honestly. She doesn't even think about Ton and no one goes to school, it's fucking useless. I don't know what school allows their students to just skip classes for basically half a term. .. not to mention that their apartment and living situation is just completely thrown in the garbage after Episode 1?

8. Umbra can't be with humans

so they say

and that's like.. the end of that episode. What was the point of it in the first place? you know, I wouldn't have minded it being like a 'every episode we solve a new mystery/crime/story' but this was just. one episode. and then we back out at finding some missing chick who couldn't care less about us. Wtf?

9. couldn't care less about the cafe setting

felt very lame, contrived, forced, and just Japan trying to force more stereotypes into this already very cringey series. I honestly started skipping through scenes and watching on 1.5x or 2x even, after episode 6, it was just .. so bad. And even talking about it, makes me so sad. 

Because Baileu Ton had so much potential, heck - the STORY had so much potential. 

It's incredibly refreshing and rare to have 

• a Chinese heroine
• someone with a very rich backstory, 'generations' of supernatural power, a great grandmother who founded this entire international organization... who just went missing but was apparently a legend
• someone who could and did show up in casual (sweatpants) clothes as well as more formal ones. It was so realistic and refreshing to see that... considering all otome heroines are dressed in their finest clothes, every day, and anime girls are always cute and never ugly...like....... no. None of that was real, but this, this felt real. Relatable. Good. 
• Someone who fights back (/raise hand)

Here's how I expected the story to go:

- Ton comes from generations of Umbra hunters who seek to coexist

- The Twilight group is one of the oldest in the world, talk about the factions, types they have, population numbers, locations with the biggest 'Umbras', and the businesses they operate in the 'real world' such as the cafe

- The Umbra seek to help other Umbras and humans e.g. similar to 'Monster' where they're seen aiding illegal immigrants or other 'sticky situations' outside of the law. They're funded by private investors, controlling e.g. 20% of the world's wealth. 

- 'Magic mirror' is a neutral party, and their organization with it

- Haysin "this is so nostalgic" is because there used to be a greater number of Umbra crimes... until Twilight was formed. He's clearly a good guy just masquerading as bad / not actually bad

- With Umbras mostly at peace, the main mission now should be: normalizing them to human society, or educating humans on interacting with Umbras. Ton's main goal should be to research all she can on Umbras and how to bridge that gap. 

- There are people who seek to destroy the bridge that her great grandmother created... these are the people who should be eliminated, and they are a GROUP, not just ONE person like Haysin. The group has to be truly malicious without a personal intent goal like gaining immortality -_- (dude, he could've just asked to be bitten by a vampire)

- They are also the people who are giving the rise in crime to Umbra crimes and funding destructive techniques like robbing, injuring humans etc. etc. maybe full on human trafficking, and it's up to Ton and gang to stop it. 

The bad guys want to give a bad name to Umbra, that's the goal here. Destroy the peace, and have humankind 'continue to lead all.' Ignoring the fact that humans, are indeed, sometimes more malicious than non-humans.

- Coexistence should go beyond just working together, but also personal lives. Show human + umbra couples, families, schools, children, blah blah and most of all, build on that romance factor for Ton... who is she going to choose? Give her more than just 3 choices. Potentially other spirits from British/Irish folklore. If there isn't enough source material, pull from other, nearby nations. 

- Who does Ton fall in love with? Who does she spend the most time with? Who is she most comfortable around? Maybe show that the great grandmother also had multiple love interests or something similar, side / half cousins, who knows. This is all for the intrigue of the story.